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We could see the summit directly above us now. A simple and short traverse around to the right then allowed a simple clamber up to the summit. Within moments, we were there - atop 5778-foot (1761m) Marble Peak. As might be expected, we were provided with an excellent 360-degree panorama. Apart from not being as close to the Golden Hinde, I'd consider it a better viewpoint than the already-excellent Morisson Spire, which we'd climbed the day before. The summit provided a much better angle on Mount McBride and Marble Meadows, and also provided a nice view down much of the length of long and skinny Buttle Lake. And apart from the views, the climb had been fun and the summit a nice prize.

Strangely, the summit here was covered - once again - with those same weird large flying bugs we saw yesterday atop Morrison Spire. What could possibly be so attractive about summits that drew these things to them?
courtesy JInnes
courtesy AHyndman
Marble Peak Summit
On the summit (REMOVE GPS TAG)
Waving on the summit
It had taken us about fifty minutes to routefind and climb from the start of scrambling to the summit - probably not unexpectedly, longer than originally planned. Looking back down the west ridge, we could make out Brian and Jenn, looking up at us from their vantage point below the scrambly bits. We waved to them, and they waved back.
View from summit
McBride from Marble
The mass of the mountain east of the summit curved away to the north. It partially blocked the views down to Buttle Lake, so Arn and I hiked a touch farther east, beyond the summit, to gain a better view. Then, after briefly returning back to the summit, we began our climb back down.
Southern Buttle Lake
Northern Buttle Lake
M&M on the summit
Back to the summit
Armed now with detailed knowledge of the route, we made much better time downclimbing along the technical bits, taking only about 30 minutes to get from the summit to the start (or end, if you're looking at it in the downward direction) of the scrambly bits. I feel confident that if I were to do this again, I'd probably be able to make the climb up again in a similar amount of time.
Reclimbing loose gully
The safety of the bush
Steep sideslope
courtesy AHyndman
Down to squeeze chimney
Chimney and Gully
Andrew and tight chimney
Nice Veins
Descending to easier ground
Wide Ledge
We arrived back at the beginning/end of the scrambling to find that Brian and Jenn had already gone back down. We continued on, hiking down along the ridge to the col, where we found Brian and Jenn relaxing (Jenn in the sun, Brian in the shade).

Note: If you are interested, I've also created an alternate write-up of the scramble up the west ridge of Marble Peak, written in a more guide-like, route-specific manner. It's got more pictures, including some annotated overlays. If you are interested, click here.
Approaching col
Although our little side trip up Marble Peak had taken longer than planned, it was still fairly early - only about 10:00 am. However, our abbreviated schedule provided us with some extra time that we wanted to use to get down to Jenn's parents' place on Gabriola Island near Nanaimo, and to reach that, we had to get back to the car at a reasonable hour. So, time to move on.

From the col below Marble Peak's west ridge, we headed south, along the main Marble Meadows herdpath. Soon we were hiking in the beautiful meadowy bowl of land that contained two of Marble Meadow's most scenic gems - Globe Flower and Marsh Marigold Lakes. Walking along the shore of Globe Flower Lake, we could look up to a beautiful lake-framed view of the craggy ridgeline leading to Marble Peak's summit. From this side, it was readily apparent why the last few hundred metres are tricky, for the many little clefts and gaps along the ridgeline were clearly visible. It was fun to look up and try and trace the tortuous path we had just followed to get to the top.
Down to Globe Flower Lake
Nice meadow-path
Pristine Globe Flower Lake
Marble Peak's West Ridge
Globe Flower, McBride, and Marble
Mysterious Sinkhole
Continuing on over undulating terrain, thirty more minutes of hiking brought us to the eastern end of Marble Meadows. Here, we'd catch the top of the Marble Meadows trail and begin our long, winding descent down to Buttle Lake. To be frank, the long, 4,200-foot-pounding descent was not something that we were looking forward to.
Final Look
At the rim
Marble Peak Profile
With the waters of Buttle Lake looking discouragingly far away, we plunged over the edge and began our trip down. The first bit was slow, as we negotiated the rougher upper section of trail. We were glad to reach what I call the "middle zone" - the very pleasant section of well-formed trail between about the 3,750' (1150m) and 1300' (400m) elevation levels. With full packs on and our feet starting to feel a little sore, we elected to enact a variant of our "Quarter-K" rule - let's simply call it the "K" rule. Every thousand feet of descent, we'd take our packs off and sit down for a bit, taking the weight off of our soles.
Starting Descent
Minor scrambling
Steeply through forest
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